Eur. Phys. J. D 40, 331-337 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00179-x

Photoionization cross-section measurements from the 2p, 3d and 3s excited states of lithium

Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

Corresponding author: ^a baig@qau.edu.pk

Received: 19 January 2006
Revised: 20 May 2006
Published online: 5 August 2006

Abstract

The photoionization cross-sections from the 2p²P_{1/2, 3/2}, 3d²D_{3/2, 5/2} and 3s²S_1/2 excited states of lithium have been measured at different ionizing laser wavelengths, above the first ionization threshold. The experiments are performed by using a thermionic diode working in the space charge limited mode and the cross-sections are measured by employing the saturation technique. By changing the ionization photon energy, a smooth frequency dependence of the cross-sections has been observed for the 2p and 3d states. The cross-section from the 3s excited state has been measured at a single photon energy. The measured values of the photoionization cross are compared with the available data.